Sunday, June 09, 2013

MA Beta SigEp performs heroic ocean rescue

Ryan Mathie, Sigma Phi Epsilon Massachusetts Beta, saved the life of a 17-year old girl as described in the news article below.

Ryan Mathie, an off-duty lifeguard, demonstrated his leadership and unselfish concern for another human being with this courageous act. Ryan is a lifeguard at Worcester Polytechnic Institute and a member of Sigma Phi Epsilon Massachusetts Beta.

Photo credit: Johnny Milano | According to an eyewitness, a beachgoer was air lifted by police out of Field 2 at Robert Moses beach. (May 31 2013)

A 17-year-old Brentwood girl was in serious condition Saturday at Stony Brook University Hospital, a spokesman said, after she was rescued off Robert Moses State Park where she was swimming with friends.
Kevin Palomino and Cheyenne Costales, both 18 of Bay Shore, were treated and released from Good Samaritan Hospital Medical Center in West Islip, state park police said. The 17-year-old, Bria Key, was unconscious when she was pulled from the water.

The teens were rescued Friday afternoon by two state park police officers and two beachgoers -- one an off-duty lifeguard.

"They went into the ocean in an area where swimming was not open and where there were no lifeguards and apparently could not make their way back to the beach," said Richard O'Donnell, New York State Park Police chief.

Officer Nathan Sibenik, 28, said two teenagers came up to him and his partner around 4:45 p.m. at Field 2 and alerted them to the three people struggling in the water. Sibenik jumped into the water and was joined by Ryan Mathie, 20, of Smithtown, an off-duty lifeguard. The pair grabbed the 18-year-olds and brought them to shore, and then went back for Key, Sibenik said.

Mathie said he swam "to the last spot where I saw her bob over a wave . . . As soon as I grabbed her, she started coughing up. I just knew I had to get her to shore as fast as possible."

Key was airlifted by Suffolk County police to Stony Brook. Sibenik was treated and released from Good Samaritan for saltwater ingestion and hypothermia, police said.With Ellen Yan